Weekly Bix Update

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

+25 115

I'd be excited, but I think the low # may be from undereating. He continues to seem bony and subdued, I just can't tell that the Leukeran is doing much, though I guess I haven't seen as much vomiting since he's been on it. We are at every other day now (Leukeran) for about a week, and he goes in for a weight check in one more week. Just not himself though, so I'm expecting we may be trying Pred in another week, but we'll see.

I think it's mostly a losing battle once the IBD gets to this point (presumed to be cancer), more a matter of whether we can sustain some quality of life for a length of time with the right meds. I had higher hopes for the Leuk than what I have seen, but who knows, maybe the Pred or some anti-nausea meds will end up helping.

:YMSIGH: IBD sucks. Boo to years of naively feeding dry food. cat(2)_steam

Good news is most of the time he doesn't seem to feel awful either, and still likes his snuggle time on the couch, and looking out the window, etc., so I think his quality of life is certainly still decent at this point.

 

[Rob & Harley (GA)]

Awww scritched to Bix.

I sure wish things were going better. Glad to hear he's still snuggling that's a good sign, if he felt crappy he'd be hiding.

Paws crossed that you find the right mix of meds soon.

 

[judy and squamee(GA)]

It definitely sucks to be in a losing battle. Sorry to hear that. But glad you are getting the snuggles! And glad he has some quality of life.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Man, sorry Joanna. I'm sending my good vibes to The Bixer.

I think you know I'm very pro appetite stimulants. And once they start losing weight it is so hard to get it back on. H was able to have a very good quality of life for quite some time [despite his more aggressive cancer] but only because I went with the appetite stimulants.

This Marks article covers a bit about how perhaps the tumor releases something that suppresses appetite:
http://www.vin.com/vindbpub/searchpb/pr ... r00168.htm

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Thanks all. I think his is nausea more than appetite suppression, but I could be wrong. What happens if you mix the appy stim w/nausea? That's been my hesitancy to bring it up w/the vet, seems like it would be a weird mix. She mentioned Cerenia (?) for nausea as an option we might try, but I think Pred is next on her list of options. There's also Reglan, though I shy away from that due to it's wacky side effects. If it comes down to it though I'll probably give it a shot and see how it affects him.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

From my experience Cerenia kills the vomiting and not the nausea. If you mix the appetite stimulant with nausea then you get a hungry cat that might still be nauseous but at least they are eating. It does not increase vomiting. I was less sold on the nausea idea. I knew or at least think I knew the look in H's eyes when he was not feeling good [nausea included]. He would be not waiting to eat but feeling good. Also mirtazapine is thought to perhaps have anti nausea properties. I was not convinced of that.

Basically it is best to start low - 1/2 the dose that they typically give. 1/8th mirtazapine every 36 hours or 1/4 - 1/2 cyproheptadine every day or 12 hours. I've also seen diazapam mentioned for appetite in cats. They lost their mojo over time so it's best to start as low as you can - just enough for them to maintain weight [scale helps with this]. Cypro worked better on H and mirt works better on F. At first I was able to get away with 1/4 cyproheptadine every day. And it's nice to have both to juggle and see what works best. The diazapam would be another good experiment. On a CRF page I even saw them talking about cypro AND diazapam. But you cannot give mirt and cypro. Cypro is the antidote to the serotonin syndrome that can happen with mirt. Always wait until the mirt or cypro period is over before giving the other. Mirt will make 'em friendly. Cypro I think kind of more takes their edge off - it's an antihistamine, mirt is a anit-depressant. And well diazapam is Valium so...

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Oh wow, sounds like a real party mix! Can I get some Valium & anti-d's for me? LOL

Bix is of course eating great tonight, guess he heard me saying bad things and decided to prove me wrong. So he's either feeling better, or I overshot (gave him 1u on a 155 a few hours ago). Usually 1u hasn't been enough for him lately, so hopefully he's feeling a little better. I don't know how fast the Leuk kicks in, but that dose was a few hours ago as well (though so far I have not been aware of any direct connect between the Leuk and much of anything really).

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Just put your finger on the scale when they weigh Bix then they'll have to Rx a bigger dose for Bix [and maybe a little for mom too!]. :lol:

The cypro is nice because it is gone in 12 hours. The mirt is nice because it BTW the normal dose for mirt is 1/4 pill every 3 days. But there Colorado State has been doing some research on the mirt dosing then recently which might make it so that you could give 1/4 more often. I always found that 1/4 after 2 days it was not doing doing much at all. But I REALLY think it's important to start on a lower dose with mirt. Both H and F took a little getting used to it.

I found the Cerenia helpful when I would wake up and he had barfed and I needed to give a shot. In certain circumstances I would give the Cerenia just to make sure he didn't barf again when I had just given him a good dose.